Inferential Genealogy Study Group in 2nd Life – Stated Goal

Although I was not able to attend the 2nd life chat on Tuesday, I did listen to the presentation by Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS. Because I wasn’t at the meeting, I didn’t get to hear the homework assignment. (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it)

The History Channel had a program on Gettysburg. Ridgely Howard, of Baltimore, Maryland was mentioned as part of the Maryland Battalion. His father served in the Revolutionary War and served with George Washington. The date was July 2, 1863. Location, Culps Hill.

Was part of Pickett’s Charge July 3, 1863.

A Union Officer, James Wallace, Maryland 1st Regiment, whose father also served with George Washington along with Ridgely Howard’s father.

Now they were fighting each other.

Step One:

Focused Goal:

Identify the parents of D. Ridgeley Howard, who fought in the Civil War at Gettysburg:

This is my focused goal for this project because Ridgeley (Ridgely) and Howard are surnames in my Ancestry. Further information places both Wallace and Howard in Baltimore, Maryland. Very consistent with my research in my Family History.

As I know, and practice, “Don’t jump to “conclusions”. But at the same time, I always ask myself “Where did that name come from?”

As Dr. Jones points out Inferential Genealogy is the Process of piecing together documents to make conclusions about relationships and identities that no record tells you all by itself.

The quest for the Goal, already has two questions:

1) Was the information about the “fathers” of Ridgeley and James Wallace, fathers or at least one generation back?

2) Is the given name “Ridgeley” taken from the Surname of his Mother? (at this point, the spelling of the given name is not important, for me at least)

It is my hope to use this blog to make some progress to reach the stated Goal, using Inferential Genealogy.

Its not likely that any man on Culps Hill participated in Pickett’s charge. The units on Culp’s Hill were part of the Confederate 2nd Corps. The units in Pickett’s charge were from the 1st and 3rd Corps.

Most interesting little project you have and appears to fit the inferential genealogy case study perfectly because I don’t think you will find any one piece of evidence that will answer your questions.

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About this Blog

The purpose of this Blog has changed over time. What started out to be an online version of some old Worthington Descendant Newsletters.
It has become a way to journal about my adventure into Family History, sometimes called Genealogy.
The change for me is more about finding out the stories behind the names and dates that I find about the people I find in my research.